Dreams
by MzDany
Summary: Angstficlet. Hunter needs some comforting...Not your usual Valentine's story, but it has enough sappy parts to justify it.slash CamHunter


_**DREAMS  
**_By Dany  
PG-13

Summary: Angst-ficlet. Hunter needs some comforting…(Spoilers for 'Brothers in Arms')

_He knew he was screaming, but he couldn't help himself, couldn't stop. The pain was excruciating, like icy-hot lava surging through his entire body. With what strength he had left, he yanked once again on the metal restraints that tied him to the chair, but, as before, they held. He whipped his head from side to side, trying to dislocate the cause of his agony - the device strapped to his head. But it wouldn't budge. The electrodes seem to tap straight into his brain, mercilessly extracting his elemental energy. His cries were getting weaker, but the pain certainly wasn't. He knew he mustn't black out, for if he did, he would not wake up again. He hurt like he never had in his life!  
__Through blurred vision he saw the golden figure moving towards him, its laughter mingling with the pain in his head. The hated metal face was turning towards him, obviously relishing the agony it was causing. Then he saw Motodrone's hand reaching for the dial on the control board next to the chair. One turn, even half a turn, would increase the force of the extraction, and the pain. He couldn't take much more of this, but he was helpless, so damn helpless, to do anything about it. Could do nothing but watch as the hand closed over the dial…_

Hunter jerked awake with a gasp, his body sitting up in bed before his mind even realized he had done so. His hand automatically went to his head, but there was nothing there except sweat-damp hair. The body next to him twitched, and an instant later a warm hand was on his shoulder.  
"Hey, just a dream. Just another stupid dream, babe." Cam sounded much more awake than he should have been at three o'clock in the morning. Hunter nodded, not trusting his voice yet. His heart was still hammering wildly in his chest, and he shook his head slightly in a vain attempt to rid himself of the last remnants of the nightmare.  
Cam's hand was moving up and down his back, gently caressing the bare skin there while he waited wordlessly, giving Hunter time to compose himself.  
After a few moments breathing became easier, the gentle hand on his back helping to soothe him and anchor him in reality. Hunter was not embarrassed about the nightmare; all of the ex-Rangers had them in one form or another, after all. Even though Lothor had been locked away in the Abyss of Evil for weeks now, the strain of the past year with all the battles against his space abominations had long-term psychological effects on them all.  
Now Cam's other hand came up, gently pulling on Hunter's shoulders. Closing his eyes, he leaned backwards into the embrace and allowed himself to simply enjoy the feeling of strength and power from the body behind him. For a long moment the two men just sat silently, Cam holding Hunter - the way Hunter had held Cam less than two weeks ago, after Cam's latest nightmare had left him shaking.  
It was a huge comfort to know that someone was there for him, but the same was true for the rest of the ex Power Rangers team; somewhere out there, maybe not tonight, but perhaps tomorrow or yesterday, Blake was holding Tori, Shane was holding Dustin and vice versa. They might not be Rangers anymore, but they were still a team; some friends, some lovers - and always there for each other.  
"Where were you?" Cam's voice was close to his ear, and Hunter sighed.  
"Perry's shop." That was all he needed to say; Cam knew the rest of the story of the mechanic Perry and its evil alter ego Motodrone as well as Hunter himself.  
Cam's arms tightened around him. No words of comfort needed to be relayed; for now, his quiet presence was solace enough. Nevertheless, Cam lightly kissed the side of Hunter's neck, more for his own sake than for Hunter's, he presumed.  
The ghost of a smile came to Hunter's face when he felt the warm lips brush his skin, but was soon wiped away as another thought invaded his mind: _If the team had taken a minute longer to get him out of there…  
_Involuntarily, Hunter shivered, and Cam took that as the perfect opportunity to tug him back into the warmth of the bed, pulling the comforter over them at the same time. "Come on, Sensei, it's cold tonight." In the few weeks since Hunter had been the Thunder Academy's head teacher, his title somehow had become Cam's affectionate nickname for him.  
However, the temperature in Cam's room had nothing to do with Hunter's shivers. Hunter knew Cam knew this – and Cam knew that Hunter knew that _he_ knew that.  
They both let it slide and instead worked on re-fitting themselves together under the covers the way they had been before the dream had set in. Cam was spooned up behind him, one of his arms around his waist with no intention of letting go.  
"Ready to go back to sleep?" he heard the Wind sensei ask.  
"Yeah," Hunter murmured. "Guess it's your turn to mother-hen tonight."  
"My pleasure," Cam replied, a smile in his voice. His hand found Hunter's and held on, fingers interlaced.  
Hunter exhaled; safe and warm again, with the familiar contours of Cam's body pressed against him, he felt the strings of fatigue pulling him back into the realms of sleep.

It was good to be loved.

THE END


End file.
